Time for ABs to help grow rugby
New Zealand isn’t really doing its bit to grow the global game by supporting the emerging tier of nations. Not really. Not properly or the way it should be, without self-interest and ulterior motive.
It will say it is — argue that it has sent New Zealand Maori all over the world in the past few years to help build the profile of rugby.
The Maori have been to the United States, Canada and Brazil — so the gospel is being spread. The second tier are getting their fixtures.
But what about the All Blacks? What role have they played in providing the lesser nations with the very thing they want most — exposure to the best teams?
New Zealand can stick the name All Blacks on as many international teams as they like but the world can’t be fooled. They know the difference between the All Blacks and Maori All Blacks and fans around the world want to see the former. New Zealand Rugby needs to respect that — not try to fob everyone off with one thing they hope can masquerade as another.
Tier two teams want to play the All Blacks and that hasn’t been happening. Not enough and not for the right reasons.
England are doing it. They will play Tonga at Twickenham this year and that comes after they hosted Fiji in London in 2016, Samoa in 2017 and Japan in 2018.
France are doing it. They hosted Samoa in 2016, Japan in 2017 and Fiji in 2018. Scotland, Ireland and Wales are all doing it — they have all played Fiji recently, and a mix of Samoa, Japan, Tonga and Georgia.
The All Blacks have had one genuine tier two fixture in the past five years: They played Samoa in Apia in 2015. That was a genuine moment. A test that was about paying back — of giving Samoa, a close and important ally, the test they had always wanted to host.
But since then, the fixtures against tier two sides have been with agenda. They have been about making money or providing the All Blacks with the opposition they want ahead of a bigger fixture.
In 2017, Samoa came to Auckland at short notice to play the All Blacks. That was purely because the All Blacks didn’t want to go into the
British and Irish Lions series cold.
In 2018, the All Blacks played in Japan so they could bank $1 million and get acclimatised ahead of the World Cup.
In 2019, Tonga were in Hamilton so they could provide the All Blacks with a pre-tournament romp.
If the clock is wound back further, the All Blacks went to Japan in 2013 and the US in 2014 for no other reason than to make money.
The time has come, then, for NZR to address the issue and slot some genuine tier two fixtures into the All Blacks’ calendar.
The national body can’t point to later this year and say the All Blacks are off to Tokyo, because once again that’s about money and paving the way for Japan to enter the Rugby Championship. Besides, are Japan even a tier two nation? They didn’t look like it at the World Cup.
It is time for something more selfless and authentic. A fixture that doesn’t have an ulterior motive. How about playing Georgia in Tbilisi as part of the end of year tour?
How about a test in Suva next July when the Lions are touring South Africa, since it’s not such a great time to play England, Ireland, Wales or Scotland.
Why not stop in North America next year and play the US and Canada in consecutive weekends and don’t ask for any cash — just play them. And while there, get the players out and about — not through staid sponsor functions but with open trainings and meet-and-greets. Social media would go mad for it and the PR would in time be worth a fortune.
There’s so much talk of the July and November test programmes being repetitive and dull, which is why there are constant attempts to generate meaningful competitions to fill that space.
But maybe some magic could be injected by investing in the little guys of the world game and maybe by doing so, some life can be breathed back into the international game and New Zealand can say it is genuinely doing its bit.